🎍 New Year Trading Begins — Still Thin Liquidity, First Stop: UK & Eurozone PMI

🎍 New Year Trading Begins — Still Thin Liquidity, First Stop: UK & Eurozone PMI

The new year’s trading has kicked off, but market liquidity has not fully returned yet.

• Tokyo: closed for the New Year holidays

• Closed markets: New Zealand / China / Thailand / Switzerland / Russia

👉 Meaningful participation will likely resume from next week onward.

💡 Key Theme: Precious Metals Rebound — Supporting AUD

Gold and silver prices have started to recover, and that theme is providing underlying support for the Australian dollar.

Meanwhile:

• The year-end USD selling has paused

• Position adjustments are prompting USD short-covering

As a result, USD/JPY:

rebounded from the mid-156s toward 157.00

The recent improvement in U.S. jobless-claims data has also helped support the dollar.

👉 The key early-year question is whether this dollar buying will continue.

📊 Tonight’s Focus: Final Manufacturing PMI (UK / Eurozone / U.S.)

Today brings the final manufacturing PMI releases from:

• The United Kingdom

• The eurozone

• The United States

These typically carry less impact than the flash readings, so major FX pairs may remain range-bound.

• EUR/USD: mid-to-upper 1.17 area

• GBP/USD: centered in the high-1.34s

The recent USD rebound has calmed for now, and markets feel like they’re waiting for next week, when participation returns.

🌍 London Open: Stalling Just Below 157 in USD/JPY

European equities are trading firm, with the FTSE:

breaking above 10,000 for the first time ever.

USD/JPY briefly touched 156.99, but buying stalled near 157.00.

👉 AUD remains supported by the combination of equity strength + higher precious-metal prices.

🔎 Takeaway

• Liquidity remains thin → direction is hard to establish

• Resource & precious-metal strength keeps commodity currencies supported

• USD/JPY faces resistance just below 157.00

• Until liquidity normalizes next week,
  “don’t chase” remains the prudent stance